Who’s afraid of Harry Roque?

Harry Roque is the next closest ally of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD). The first one, without a doubt, is Bong Go, PRRD’s special assistant, or nifty gofer on call 24/7, who always stands behind him, quiet and unsmiling, whose reputation one must not fiddle with. Harry, being the presidential spokesperson, relays, not interprets, his boss’ policies. He is high-spirited, knowledgeable in the law, who is a friend and foe of the Chief Executive’s friends and foes. 

His appointment in November 2017 came as a surprise, as some people thought his predecessor, Ernesto Abella, a former Protestant minister, was a favorite loyal PRRD follower and defender. Well, Mr. Abella, some others thought, was too gentle a public relations person to temper a press so used to needle politicians with uncomfortable questions. When Roque, a former member of the 17th Congress, a lawyer, and human rights activist held his first press conference, he asked his listeners, pen in their hands, to be gentle with him. Subsequently, he came on strong, not to be played around with, to be taken as having studied his topic(s) for the day. Watching him on television, I’d say no one is afraid of him, nor is he of any media person. His boss, I would say, is no friend of the press, vice versa, but what does he care?

Once he was asked what his boss meant when he said something, and he quickly said, “I don’t know, I was not around when he said that.” This means he does not presume to know what his boss meant. He would only present what he heard his boss say or what his boss wanted him to say. He isn’t fond of second-guessing, in other words.

The opportunity to understand Harry Roque was manna for Protestant ministers and laymen at two separate functions last week – the 50th anniversary of the Capitol Christian Leadership (CCL) held at Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, and The Wednesday Forum (TWF) at Cosmopolitan Church on Taft Ave., Manila. The CCL, organized by Dr. Greg Tingson, journalist/lawyer Leon O. Ty and Christian leaders on Jan. 22, 1960, is a weekly breakfast-fellowship convergence of Christian leaders. TWF was organized by Dr. Cirilo Rigos and Sen. Jovito Salonga in 1973. Both groups view political, economic and social issues of the day from the Christian’s perspective. 

I attended the CCL meeting, and Dr. Erlinda Senturias, a physician involved in humanitarian advocacies, both CCL and TWF meetings, so this column is a product of our note-taking.

Mr. Roque began his talk in both fora that the basic principles that guide him first as a congressman in the 17th Congress, and as presidential spokesperson is “righteousness (which) is an important contribution of Christians and other faith traditions in government service.”

For him Christians “have a special role to play to ensure that there is righteousness in government service.” A member of the UCCP church, he is aware that Christians “know the good news about Jesus Christ and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as a guide in leadership.” Christians, he said, learn from the Bible about the Ten Commandments, about teachings as do not steal, do not kill, do not covet your neighbor’s wife, about no to the death penalty.

He was surprised to learn that there are Christians who are for the death penalty, citing verses in the Bible like “An eye for an eye.” He himself is against the death penalty and lowering the age of criminal responsibility –issues that are close to his boss’ heart. We’ll see how he tackles these issues.

 Drug addiction, he said, “is a work of Satan… It breeds a culture of violence in human communities, including incestuous sex relations and killing.” He said he was aware of the scourge as he grew up in Pasay where a lot of people are still taking drugs even in schools, to this day. 

He spoke about having founded the Onesimo Foundation Inc., a non-government organization aimed at reaching, rehabilitating and mobilizing urban poor youth for the transformation of their families and communities that advance the values of the Kingdom of God. From one Onesimus therapeutic community, there are now 40 communities involved in the urban poor community ministries. Onesimus, he said, can serve as a model for transforming communities.

When it comes to police operation against drug users and pushers, he said there is “a presumption of regularity in the course of apprehending criminals who use drugs. The President will, however, not tolerate illegitimate killings as in the case of the police shooting of young Kian de los Santos, whose killing was shown on CCTV as a case of murder.” The police involved are now being tried.

On the concern of Fiscal Jo Reyela of the Rotary Club of Tondo re the surrender of the Philippine government’s sovereignty by allowing the building of infrastructure by the Chinese in the Scarborough Shoal or Panatag Shoal, Spokesman Roque replied, “It is not a matter of surrender or giving in to China’s demand. The Philippines has no capability to launch war with China. Hence, it is better to develop friendship with the Chinese instead of being drawn into a war, which is really a dispute between the USA and China. By building amicable relations with China, we prevent war and we can draw bigger investments from the Chinese government. In the end, the infrastructure facilities anyway, would belong to the Philippines because we have the exclusive right to the place based on the decision of the arbitral tribunal.”

Attorney Roque’s answers to questions from Christian leaders: The President is committed to end corruption under his watch, and his involvement in the killings by the Davao Death Squad has not been proven. On dealing with the communist insurgency, instead of analyzing the roots of the problem, there is a need to stop the killings. In fact, the affiliation of church people and leaders with communists has contributed to the decline in church attendance.

Answering Architect Tindalo Amistoso, a member of the UCCP-Cosmopolitan Church, he said in the past he was against Charter change, now he is convinced that a new political arrangement will be better to equalize the development of the country and contribute to the uplift of the poor. It is better to put the money in the hands of local political leaders so it can be better monitored by their constituencies rather than to members of Congress to decide on the development of areas of their choice.

Harry was born to Herminio Roque, a lay minister, and Dr. Adelaida Cruz Lopez-Roque on Oct. 21, 1966. He grew up in Pasay City, and his aunt, Judge Lilia Lopez, brought him to Sunday School at Cosmopolitan Church, where he was baptized. He studied at the Kiddie Kollege of the Philippine Christian University, and holds bachelor of arts degrees in economics and political science and law from the University of the Philippines, and a master of laws with merit from the London School of Economics. He has taught at the UP, put up his own law office, and ran for the 17th Congress for Party-list Kabayan. He is married and has two children.

Harry’s devotion to his mother tugs at our hearts. He writes in his blog that she was his “emotional punching bag… a martyr when she bore six children, all of whom grew up to be highly opinionated.” She wrote books and taught at the UP and the University of Chicago. “I thought mom would live forever but, like all other children, learned that only God lives forever.”

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